A Statement of Principles for the Orthodox Community
by Simeon Botwinick
August 26, 2010
Dialogue about the role of homosexuals in the Orthodox community took a significant step this summer with the rapid circulation of a public statement of principles on the subject. Signed by over 150 Orthodox rabbis, educators, and mental health professionals, the statement affirms the responsibility of Orthodox communities to treat homosexuals with the same basic dignity and respect extended to all human beings, while presenting practical proposals on how inevitable situations should be handled.
Posted online on July 22 of this year, the first draft of the statement was initially prepared by Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot approximately four months earlier. It was then circulated, commented upon by dozens of respondents, and revised, with especially significant contributions made by Rabbi Aryeh Klapper and Rabbi Yitzchak Blau.
According to Rabbi Helfgot, the statement "clarifies and puts on the table many ideas that have already been discussed," putting in clear language some "hopefully helpful thoughts."
Although this issue has of course long existed in the Orthodox community – many have been thinking about it for years, pointed out Rabbi Helfgot, and community rabbis confront it regularly – never before had there been a perceived sense ofneed to articulate or at least suggest some clear guidelines.
"The immediate catalyst for this was the panel hosted at YU last year," said Rabbi Helfgot (referring to the "Being Gay in the Orthodox World" panel hosted on December 22, 2009 by the YU Tolerance Club and the Wurzweiler School of Social Work), "but that panel ended up causing much controversy." Many of the immediate reactions were visceral ones. Rabbi Helfgot and others wanted a statement on the subject that they could take the time to step back and think rationally about, to "fashion a consensus document that would have integrity and sensitivity, while at the same time being faithful to halakha."
After Rabbi Helfgot had prepared a draft of the statement, he sent it out to many rabbis, educators, and mental health professionals through email, postal mail, telephone, and personal meetings. The document spread by word of mouth until some 300-400 people had seen it. Many of these people responded with comments and suggestions, creating a feedback loop that allowed changes to be incorporated into later drafts.
"Although hundreds of hours of revisions went into the document," noted Rabbi Helfgot, "it was mostly just specific wording that was changed. There was always a question of how much emphasis to place on each issue, but there were no major battles over matters of principle."
In April, Rabbi Helfgot asked Rabbis Blau and Klapper to help rewrite the entire document, taking into account many of the suggestions that had been sent in. When the three had a final piece they felt confident about, they began sending it out for support. "We received many replies," said Rabbi Helfgot, "Many agreed wholeheartedly and agreed to sign on. Others responded that they appreciated the document, but didn't agree with some of the content. Still others, including a few YU rebbeim, said that they agreed in principle, but didn't want to sign a public document for various reasons."
The document was eventually posted, along with the initial hundred-plus signees, on an independent blog (http://statementofprinciplesnya.blogspot.com). "I didn't want the statement to be identified with any specific institution or organization or personalities," explained Rabbi Helfgot. "The point is that it is an independent initiative with no funding and no one person behind it. It's just an independent group of people who felt it was important."
Although right now the document was intended simply to clarify and an issue that has yet to be publicly dealt with, Rabbi Helfgot admitted that he had hopes the document would become something of a standard in the Orthodox community. "In the future it might be positive if educational and religious institutions would adopt these or similar principles," he said. "But of course, that's in the future, and is up to those organizations and their members."
If early support for the statement is any indication, the document may soon become far more than just an independent statement ofprinciples. Among the initial signees were many heads of Orthodox high schools, including Rabbi Tully Harcsztark (SAR), Rabbi Mark Gottlieb (MTA). Mrs. C.B. Neugroschl (Central), Rabbi Joshua Levisohn (MJBHA). Rabbi Dr. Haskel Lookstein (Ramaz), Rabbi Scot Berman (Ulpana), Rabbi Jeff Kobrin (North Shore), and Rabbi Yosef Adler (TABC).
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